Boltzmann’s Entropy Formula
Nature loves chaos when it pushes systems toward equilibrium, and geeks call this universal property entropy.
Austrian physicist Ludwig Boltzmann laid entropy’s statistical foundations; his work was so important that the great physicist Max Planck suggested that his version of Boltzmann’s formula* be engraved on Boltzmann’s tombstone in Vienna (above).
The equation describes the tight relationship between entropy (S), and the myriad ways particles in a system can be arranged (k log W). The last part is tricky. k is Boltzmann's constant and W is the number of microscopic elements of a system (e.g. the momentum and position of individual atoms of gas) in a macroscopic system in a state of balance (e.g., gas sealed in a bottle).
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